Schmitt wins Stage 1, takes over race lead at Mt. Hood; de Maar 2nd on stage.

Following Tuesday’s opening prologue of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, Morgan Schmitt of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis found himself in 2nd place overall, just one second behind former teammate Paul Mach (Bissell).

Schmitt not only erased that deficit with the 10-second time bonus he earned for winning the first stage Mt. Tabor Criterium in Portland, he did so on the stage that also happened to be sponsored by the team’s title sponsor, UnitedHealthcare. Teammate Marc de Maar crossed the line in 2nd place, and used his six-second time bonus to jump up to 3rd overall from 9th after the prologue.

“It was definitely a great showing for us with all the UnitedHealthcare people at the race,” Schmitt said. “There’s no better way to twin than in front of them.”

Directeur Sportif Gord Fraser noted that the Team was aggressive throughout the stage, making sure the Mach was working as much as possible.

“Mach had to do a lot of gap closing today,” Fraser said. “The guys rode a great race today, and Morgan in particular was flying.”

In fact, Schmitt led a last-lap chase of an attacking Patrick McCarty (Matrix/Richardson), who had attacked with a lap and a half to go and opened a solid 10-second gap on the field.

“The last time up the main climb, I attacked a bit and got a gap on the field and that kind of woke up the field to chase down McCarty,” Schmitt said. “I knew I was going to get caught so I eased up and slotted in behind Marc in 5th wheel. With 150 meters to go, I squeaked by on the left side and we held it to the line.”

The race continues tomorrow with a 106-mile road race just across the border in Washington. Schmitt didn’t expect any changes in the overall at the end of that stage, but Friday’s time trial could prove decisive.

“I think our team is strong enough to defend the jersey, but the Friday time trial will be tough,” Schmitt said. “Paul is a good against the clock. But we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. Marc’s only a few seconds back, Chris (Baldwin) is only a few seconds back, so we have a lot of cards to play.”